January 7th, 2010 - Washington, D.C. - Senator John Thune today sent a letter signed by all 40 Republican Senators to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) urging him to make the negotiations between members of the Senate and House of Representatives on the health care reform bill as transparent as possible. Senator Thune’s letter reiterates the concerns of many in South Dakota and across the nation that additional closed-door negotiations will lead to political favors in exchange for votes on the final health care proposal.
“Democrats from the House and Senate will retreat behind closed doors to fundamentally reshape one-sixth of our economy at the great expense of South Dakota taxpayers,” said Thune. “President Obama campaigned on making all health care deliberations open and accessible to the American people, but it appears this promise has been discarded in favor of backroom deals designed to push a controversial bill through Congress. South Dakotans and all Americans deserve more openness as Congress spends huge sums of taxpayer money on a major expansion of the federal government.”
President Obama frequently promised televised negotiations during his 2008 campaign. Majority Leader Reid has made similar statements about the importance of a transparent health care debate, including a recent statement on the Senate floor in which he noted, “We are closer than ever, but we’re not there quite yet. And as we head for the finish line, one of the most important parts of this process is transparency.”
Officials from C-SPAN, the non-profit network that broadcasts Congressional activity, recently offered to facilitate coverage of efforts to reconcile the differences between the House and Senate-passed bills, but their offer has not yet been accepted by either Majority Leader Reid or Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.
Senator Thune is joined in sending the letter by Senators Lamar Alexander (R-TN), John Barrasso (R-WY), Robert Bennett (R-UT), Kit Bond (R-MO), Sam Brownback (R-KS), Jim Bunning (R-KY), Richard Burr (R-NC), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Tom Coburn (R-OK), Thad Cochran (R-MS), Susan Collins (R-ME), Bob Corker (R-TN), John Cornyn (R-TX), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Jim DeMint (R-SC), John Ensign (R-NV), Mike Enzi (R-WY), Lindsay Graham (R-SC), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Judd Gregg (R-NH), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), James Inhofe (R-OK), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Mike Johanns (R-NE), Jon Kyl (R-AZ), George LeMieux (R-FL), Richard Lugar (R-IN), John McCain (R-AZ), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Jim Risch (R-ID), Pat Roberts (R-KS), Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Richard Shelby (R-AL), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), David Vitter (R-LA), George Voinovich (R-OH), and Roger Wicker (R-MS).
